Gloomy and cold New Years Eve

Happy New Years Eve
As you can see the weather here is very unMazatlan weather. Be glad when Friday gets here. We made a grocery run this morning and the traffic is horrid. According to the papers the hotel occupancy is 100% as are ALL restaurants for tonight. Before, when it has been really busy here, a lot of people camped on the beach - not a good option for tonight. We are planning on staying in, turning on furnace and watching movies or reading. MIGHT cook dinner tonight,  might just pick. I fixed paella last night so have already used up my once a week cooking day. I have to remember to buy more Saffron before we go home. It is so much cheaper here!

 The sky around noon.

Noticed this strange little bush right next to us - have never seen a bloom like this before. First little balls.

Then they do this. Split open and get fuzzy. Wonder what happens next. Will keep an eye on it.

Our garden continues to grow and get prettier daily. My cactus is really growing. Hope it fits in its cupboard so we can get it home. 
This hibiscus continues to amaze me. It is so pretty. And it has another bud on it. 

 The reddish bulb on the banana tree continues to open up with these little flowers under each petal. The hummingbirds love them. But they don't produce a banana, they just wither and fall off.

 But the bananas we do have are growing they are about the size of a big mans thumb. We have this bunch and one more lonely one underneath these. You can just see it at the bottom of the photo. 

 And this poor bougainvillea is still trying to live. With no water over the summer they all had a hard time. Three of them are okay. This guy...Those are his only leaves. Bill had to trim some leaves off the banana plant because they were keeping the sun from the plant. After that he got the leaves. So maybe he'll make it.

The other two in the front. They are doing great. This one we planted to fill a big hole that appeared after the bad rain. Just had to add dirt and plant - and hole was gone!

 And this salmon colored one is starting to get its colors too. 

The garden at the other end of the patio.They are all doing fine too. The little mum type flowers between the big plants are starting to get a lot of buds on them too. And the hibiscus has a couple of buds. It isn't real happy though, seems to be struggling. Bill is giving it a lot of TLC.

 This one is a pale pink, very pretty. 

So enough about our garden. It is really starting to get dark clouds out there now. Ones that look like there is a lot of rain in them. 
And the rain has started.